Spawn Animated Series Update From Todd McFarlane

Spawn creator Todd McFarlane has been talking A LOT lately about everything Spawn – a new Spawn movie (sort of), but more importantly, the Emmy-winning Spawn animated series that used to run on HBO from 1997-1999. Yes, Todd McFarlane has done a lot of Spawn talking lately – talking, not walking.

So is it really possible that the Spawn Animated Series is returning to television?

MTV Splash Page recently caught up with McFarlane and by all accounts the man swears that he will be delivering animated Spawn unto us again.

Now, part of what’s held up the Spawn property from TV and movie ventures (and nabbing T McF a nice paycheck) is – what else but – legal disputes. But word is the suits are getting worked out and the dust is beginning to settle, leaving McFarlane free to attempt a late-decade Spawn resurrection (get it?).

And apparently T McF hasn’t been asleep at the wheel – he’s even done work on an animated Spawn feature:

“We developed another 85-minute, movie-length storyline, but things got complicated near the end and there were some legal issues, so it got frozen because of that…Recently, we were able to come to a compromise where everybody is happy. As a result of that, at the end of this year—as long as both parties do what they’re supposed to—then all the rights come back to me…[the animate feature] stalled right at going overseas to find a studio, so it’s pretty far along,”

It’s noted in Splash Page’s article that McFarlane was talking with such confidence about the project that it’s really just a question of whether or not the new Spawn animated series kicks off with the animated feature or if they cut it up into a couple of episodes to launch the season. Big talk…

…But truth be told, I would love to see this happen. If you don’t know about Spawn, it was a comic book McFarlane (above) created, about a dead soldier and husband who makes a deal with a devil to return to earth for his wife – only he gets tricked and ends up wandering the night as a hell warrior with dark magic powers and a parasitic costume. It was a hot comic in the 90s, became a crap live-action movie in 1997 and an Emmy-winning animated series that same year. Why did the cartoon do so well? Because unlike the PG-13 movie it went hardcore HBO-brand Rated “R” and was as bloody, raunchy and depraved as the comic.

It was a pretty awesome series.

McFarlane (always the pitch man) also mentioned how the relaunched might tie into his latest Spawn movie idea, and when things might move forward for realz with the cartoon. Check out MTV Splash Page for the whole Shabang.

Will soon see if the walk gets walked…

Source: MTV Splash Page